


Home is Where the Heart is

by Emanemmy12



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 01:36:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4768646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emanemmy12/pseuds/Emanemmy12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A prompt that I got on my tumblr asking for me to write Gen as Root and Shaw's kid and it took a bit of a different path.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is Where the Heart is

     Gen knelt down, her knees brushing the grass. It was quiet, almost too quiet as she scanned the horizon. Just beyond the top of her cover, there seemed to be a flash of brown against the lighter wood. She inched up, trying to get closer, bringing her weapon up, finger on the trigger. With her mark so close, Gen knew that this was the moment that all her training had been working up towards.  Then, a loud whap was heard and Gen could feel her back get splattered with paint. She turned and then blinked as Root was standing behind her. “Oh come on!” The exclamation was mostly good natured, but Gen was still taken aback that Root had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “I thought you were over there!” She pointed over to the wooden outcropping. Root chuckled and shook her head. That only served to make Gen pout. True, she’d been the one to ask both Root and Shaw for this outing on her birthday, but she had had a small hope that they’d let her win. Sameen had let herself get shot, that much Gen knew. But Root had avoided her for a good 20 minutes. It had been frustrating, but exhilarating. 

     “I’m sorry sweetie, but there are still some tricks of the trade that I can’t reveal. Plus, I grew up in Texas. This sort of thing comes naturally.” Root shouldered her paint gun and motioned for Gen to follow her. They had run out of the time they’d payed for. To the second, she was sure. The young woman followed along, face screwed up in concentration as she tried to commit the personal detail that Root had let slip to memory. After Shaw had brusquely introduced them to each other, it had been a game that they had started to play with each other. Root would lead hints, clues and Gen would be expected to follow them. It seemed that there was an ultimate purpose for this, though for the life of her Gen could not figure out what it was. Perhaps it was just simply the way that Root was as she could see bits and pieces of that in the way that Root and Shaw interacted. She had picked up on the fact that they were together almost immediately after seeing them together. With how there was such an established banter, a push and pull, a give and take, that seemed to effortless has left her almost like Gen had intruded on something when she’d first been around it, but having slowly gotten more used to it and having a more established relationship with Root had helped. Now, it didn’t even phase her. Today was all about her anyways. Her 15th birthday. 

Things had changed a lot since she’d first met Shaw and now that she was going into high school, both Root and Shaw had slowly become her guardians instead of Harold. Perhaps it was Root’s way of getting to know Gen, or trying to make her feel comfortable. But she never had thought that was needed. Root treated her with a level of respect that most other adults did not and so Gen gave that respect back. Under Root’s indirect tutelage and some blunt comments from Shaw, she’d been able to expand her skills to include basic hacking, self defense, and tricking others. Gen looked up to them, each in their own way. So naturally she wanted to know everything that she could. That task was not going so well, so Gen didn’t want to mess this one thing up. How had Root been able to make her think she was in a different place? Root wouldn’t have cheated against her. That was one of the unspoken rules about their relationship. Gen was so lost in thought that when Root stopped to pick up Shaw, who was basically taking a nap at the entrance, that she ran right into her. 

     “Oh, sorry Root.” 

     Root smiled. “That’s alright.” It was as if she knew the thoughts circling around in Gen’s mind sometimes. That always left her feeling a bit unsettled. Did she realize just how much influence that her opinion had on Gen? The teen shook her head, trying not to get caught up in unneeded thoughts. Plus even if she brought it up to Root, it might have been a burden. The woman lead a very busy life that Gen barely understood as no one would explain it to her properly. At least Shaw’s job was a bit more straight forward, stop people from getting murdered. “I was just thinking that there was one more surprise that we wanted to give you. Isn’t that right, Sameen?” The question was phrased lightly, but the tone cut through the middle as it was laced with importance. Instantly, Gen was on the edge. Was this a new challenge? 

     “We’re doing that now?” Sameen sounded far less than pleased, but then again, it was Shaw. That’s how she always sounded. Root sighed and leaned down, whispering something into the other woman’s ear. Gen watched, trying to see what was going on, either by reading lips or any sound that might get leaked out, but there was nothing. She cursed her bad luck. Gen had slowly been getting better at lip reading, but it seemed that Root was being more secretive on purpose. Eventually Shaw nodded. “You’re right. It’s been a long enough time as it is.” That part was audible enough for Gen to hear and it piqued her interest again. She’d never really had that many birthdays celebrated until Harold had taken her under his guardianship. There had been cake and presents, all normal things with him. This had to something that he wouldn’t do. Sameen walked towards Gen and ruffled her hair, an annoying habit left over from when Gen was actually shorter than Shaw. But it was a sign of affection that they could both agree on, so it wasn’t taken poorly. “You interested?” As if that was even a question that needed to be asked. Gen adored both these women. She would follow them to the ends of the Earth if it meant getting to be with them. So she nodded and Sameen smiled. Something that was incredibly rare for even Gen to see. 

Then, Root leaned over, draping her arm over Shaw’s shoulders. “You know I’d really like to change before we head to where we need to go, so if you too wouldn’t mind, I’d like to go.” Shaw nodded and the trio left the battlefield behind. Gen couldn’t help her heart from pounding with excitement. She’d never really had much of a family. They had abandoned her, misused her, or died. But if she had had one, this was exactly how Gen would have wanted it to be like. Here, with Root and Shaw, she was challenged, cherished, protected. She hadn’t only been saved by Shaw that faithful day, but Gen had been given a new chance to flourish exactly how she wanted. That’s what she would always be grateful for. Overcome with this emotion, Gen stopped, throwing her arms around Sameen. A hair ruffle hadn't been enough. There was a pause before strong arms enclosed around Gen, this time not cutting off her breathing. Root watched the scene with a smile and when Gen let go they made eye contact. A spark of understanding passed through them in that moment. They both wouldn’t be here without Sameen. She had saved them both.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
